


The Disappearance

by TheRedRedness



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Disappearing, F/M, Fake Identities, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Running Away
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:15:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27912118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRedRedness/pseuds/TheRedRedness
Summary: Unable to handle recent events, four people decided to disappear.
Relationships: Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 15
Kudos: 40





	1. The Plan

**Author's Note:**

> Why did I decide to write this? I don't know, I just got some inspirations and ideas that I couldn't resist writing.  
> (Marinette, Chloe, and Luka do know each other's identities, just letting you all know)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first part of chapter 1.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUTHOR'S NOTE: If you are having thoughts about running away or things like that, don't. It's not worth it. Please talk to someone you trust about it.

Marinette didn't want to face today, every day is never a good day for her.

Now that she mentions it, she couldn't remember the last time she had a good day.

Lila was successful in taking away Marinette's friends.

Well, almost.

Chloe secretly apologized to Marinette about everything and is willing to be friends with her. She fell out of love with Adrien and left him alone after she was tired of dealing with Lila.

Kagami heard about the rumors when she was practicing fencing at Dupont. She asked Adrien and he explained everything. Telling him to expose Lila and defend Marinette didn't get through his skull. She ran into Marinette at her bakery and said she will help her with anything if she wants. She was happy she has Kagami.

She didn't want to get up, but had to force herself to (and with the help of Tikki.), get dressed, and go downstairs to get breakfast. She was making her breakfast while the TV was on with the news rambling on and on about something until she heard this.

"Models Adrien Agreste and Lila Rossi are back with amazing photos! It probably won't be long until they'll actually be a couple." She turned her head to see the pictures, she lost too much faith and humanity to care so she just rolled her eyes and went back to making food.

"Honestly, they'll make a great couple! I wonder if we'll see them again." Marinette heard her mother walk in. Sabine and Tom had recently been hired to serve their baked good at events and what she was told, Adrien was always seen with Lila around his arms.

"Probably now since they're always on TV. I have to go mom, love you." Marinette said while eating her breakfast, grabbing her bag, and rushing out.

How long will this go on? Is this going to end? Probably not. She just wants to disappear from everything.

Wait, maybe she can.

\---------------

It's been a year since Lila won and she somehow managed to still lie about everything and still have everyone as her 'slaves'. Marinette is not going to lie, she's sort-of impressed that she did it for this long.

Marinette walked past her classmates through the courtyard, listening to Lila's 'stories', completely ignoring Marinette as she became invincible to them now. Arriving at her empty class since Miss Bustier doesn't arrive until a few minutes after the bell rings. She goes to her usual spot at the back of her class, pulls out her phone, and began looking up things.

Marinette does have money saved from birthdays, the bakery, and some from winning bets so she has enough for a train ticket. Also typing down what she needs. Before typing more, someone sits down next to her.

"Hey Marinette. You okay?" Chloe asked. She decided to switch seats to sit with Marinette now that Sabrina is Lila's 'best friend'.

"O-Oh! Hey Chloe! Y-Yeah I'm okay, just didn't get much sleep you know?" Marinette lied a bit. "Ugh, I know. That akuma took more than an hour to defeat. I'm just glad that my parents didn't notice me sneaking back in." Chloe said and continued "Oh! Did Luka talk to you by any chance? He wasn't talkative for a few days and during the fight. He left quickly when it was over. Do you know what's wrong?" She was right about Luka not talking to them.

Whatever there's a problem, he would tell her and sometimes ask for advice and help. They had started getting closer recently. "I don't know. I have noticed that Juleka wasn't talkative either, so I'm guessing they had a fight." Juleka always asks questions about Lila's stories but for a few days, she would ignore her and say she doesn't want to talk about it. "What kind of fight is it to cause them to not speak to each other?" Chloe asks and Marinette shrugged. "Don't know. Whatever they fight, I tend to stay out of it until he calms down."

She goes back to looking at her phone and moves the screen away from Chloe, which she was a bit confused but went back to her own phone.

_I'm sorry Chloe, but I just can't handle it anymore._

\---------------

A week had gone by and it's was a sort-of normal week for her. Parents were hired to another event (Seriously?! How many events? A lot.), class ignoring Marinette as usual, Chloe talking to her, and still no words from Luka.

Marinette had planned out everything. She found a secluded area in France that doesn't get much attention. No akuma attacks happened there, mostly a peaceful town. She can't leave the country when she still has to be Ladybug. She had made more money from designing, she is not giving up on that. Online, she is a mystery designer. Nobody knows who the designer is, but known for his/her amazing designs that some celebrities wore. She had saved plenty of money.

Chloe started acting weird around her. Repeating questions if she's okay and if she needs to talk to someone. All Marinette said that she's fine and if Chloe's okay. Chloe said she was fine too.

Chloe knows Marinette is not fine. Marinette is usually talkative but this week, she was silent. Lila left her alone after stealing everyone from her so what happened? She wants to know if she's not planning something drastic. She told Pollen to try to talk to Tikki to see what's wrong, Pollen did it and told her all Tikki said is that Marinette stayed silent while Tikki talked to her so that won't work.

Next one was following her around to see if something changed in her routines. Nothing except Marinette had been on her phone a lot. Walking home, lunch, even in class when she hides it under her desk. _Is Lila cyberbullying her now?_ Chloe first thought was Lila, but Lila wasn't on her phone a lot in class, it could be possible. She has to get Marinette's phone to look, but since she's always on it now, it will be hard.

One day, Chloe and Marinette were in the class as usual with nobody else around. Chloe does have a plan but she needs to get Marinette away from the phone. She was trying to think of something when she heard Marinette get up. "I need to go to the bathroom, be right back." Chloe sees the phone in her hand and asks, "Wait! Can I use your phone? When I sent pictures to people, it kept saying it wasn't sent so I want to make sure it was sent to you or if there's a glitch." That's the excuse she can come up with, she's not that good like Lila. She noticed Marinette hesitating to give it.

"Your parents bought you like a bunch of new phones, couldn't you just use one of them?" She said, "Yeah, but I'm learning to be grateful for what I have, so I'll keep using it until something bad happens to it." Chloe wasn't lying, she is trying to learn to be grateful. "Oh, well that's nice to hear it." Marinette paused a bit. "Sure, just hang on." She looked back to the phone, Chloe assuming she's hiding the messages from Lila or anything like that. "Here." Marinette handed it to her and walked out of the classroom.

Chloe had to be quick. She went through every contact, she finds that Marinette blocked Lila and everyone in the class except her, her parents, Kagami, and Luka. She also went through unknown numbers to find nothing too. Going through social media, everyone was blocked too and no mean messages were found, so Lila's cyberbullying was out of the way.

So, what was she looking at then?

Chloe went to her search history, expecting to find random things, but what she got were these.

_**Secluded areas in France** _

_**Train ticket cost** _

_**Peaceful countries** _

_**Fake names** _

_**Changing your looks** _

_**Running away** _

There were more like that but Chloe had enough.

_She's planning to run away?_

Chloe screenshotted the history list only involving those things and sending them to herself. When she got them on her own phone, she quickly deletes the texts and deleted them from the photo gallery. Getting out of the search history, closing that tab down, and finding a picture of a dress on her own phone, and sent it to Marinette. Placing the phone back at her spot just in time as Marinette enters the classroom.

"Did you fix the glitch?" Marinette asks while taking the phone back. "Turns out I can send pictures again, either that was a small glitch or I clicked on the wrong thing. All taken care of now!" Chloe said. Marinette settled back down as the bell rang a few minutes later. Marinette looked at her phone again, allowing Chloe to look through the texts. It was full of questions and things that pointed out to running away and disappearing.

_I have to tell Luka. I'm sorry Marinette._

After school was over, Chloe followed Marinette to make sure she was at home and found an alleyway with no one around. She got out her phone to call him. They are getting closer, he needs to know about it.

"If you're calling to yell at me about talking to Marinette again, I will! I just need some time!" He didn't pick up until the third ring.

"That's not why I'm calling you! I'm really worried about Marinette now!"

"What happened to her?"

"Well she wasn't very talkative as she usually is this week, and she had been spending a lot of time on her phone, so I thought Lila was cyberbullying her."

"Wait, is she?" Luka interrupted.

"I thought she was, so I convinced Marinette to give me her phone and when she's gone, I looked through her messages and social media." Chloe also added, "I know you're about to scold me but I had to do it if she wouldn't me why."

"Well you're right, I was about to, but we'll talk about that later. Is she being cyberbullied?"

"No because Marinette blocked her and everyone in our class. So being confused that it's wasn't it, I looked through her search history and-" She paused, taking a couple of deep breaths from explaining quickly.

"Well, what is it?" She hears him asking.

"I think she's planning to run away."


	2. The Plan (Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Towards her chosen date to run away, a change of plans happens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I am not writing this to encourage running away, it's just some ideas that popped into my head.

Today is Friday, she plans to leave Paris on Sunday.

Her parents were hired to another event that was supposed to last the whole weekend and she already knew Adrien and Lila are going to be there.

But she's happy they won't catch her in the act and that Adrien and Lila won't be on the streets since it takes place at the Carrousel du Louvre.

Tikki tried talking her out of it but she wouldn't talk to her. She ended up giving up "If you're actually going to run away, just please at least be safe."

Oh she will be safe, people don't have to worry about that.

\---------------

It's currently evening, but not super dark yet. Marinette was debating whether to leave a note or not. Until she hears something that snapped her out of it.

The source of it was coming from her phone. Picking it up to see a text from Chloe.

**Are your parents home? There's something I need to talk to you about in private.**

**No they're not. You can come over.** She replied back.

She hides the suitcase she packed up underneath some boxes that has some equipment she needs for designing.

She waits for Chloe to come but wonders how would she reacts. Chloe finally made a true friend other than Sabrina and Adrien.

_I'm sorry Chloe. I'm sorry. I'm sure you'll be fine since you have everything._

She had started to think about Luka too since they haven't spoken in almost a week. It's tough. She was thinking about him when a knock was heard on the trapdoor.

"Come in." Knowing it was Chloe. She opened the door and when Marinette looked at her. She doesn't look too happy.

"Is there something you're not telling me?" Chloe said, trying not to sound angry.

"What?" Marinette said.

"Is there a secret or something important that you're not telling me." She repeated herself.

"No. You know all of my secrets, including the fact that I'm Ladybug. What else is there to hide?" Marinette answered.

"Really? Nothing?" Chloe asked again and Marinette nodded. Chloe pulled out her phone from her purse and pulled up an image. "Then why did I see this when I was using your phone?!" Trying to control her anger, showing the search history to Marinette who read a bit of it. "Secluded areas in France, train tickets-wait. You went through my search history?!" Marinette yelled out. "How else was I supposed to know why you were always on your phone?!" Now Chloe was yelling too.

"Chloe, I appreciate you trying to look out for me, but going through my search history? That's invading my privacy!" Marinette said and Chloe changed the subject. "We're not going to talk about that now. Why are you planning to run away?" Marinette didn't want anyone to find out. Why is luck never on her side?

"That's none of your business!" Marinette shouted out. "Oh I know, but If you do manage to run away, your parents and the school are going to find out. Kagami and Luka too!" Marinette hoped Chloe doesn't bring up Luka and Kagami. "My parents had been gone a lot now! The class hates me too much to care! Kagami focused too much on fencing to talk! And Luka hadn't spoken to me in a week! Why would I care if none of them would even talk to me!" Marinette yelled out. Put her head down on her hands, refusing to look at Chloe.

"I'm glad I brought him." She heard Chloe said and walking away a bit, Marinette didn't move her head up to ask who 'him' was, but she feels like she already knew.

"Marinette." Another voice. Yep, she knew. Looking up, she sees Luka.

"Why did you bring him?" She turns to Chloe. "Because he knows. I told him and showed him the list." She answered. "Marinette, look at me." Marinette turned to him. "I'm sorry for not talking to you. I had a fight with Juleka and she said some things about you. I didn't want to force my problems onto you so I dealt with them myself. I'm really sorry Mari." He explained, so Marinette's assumptions about a fight were right. She couldn't take it anymore and broke down crying, Luka immediately pulled her in for a hug.

After a while, she slowly calms down, still hiccuping a bit. "Now, do you mind telling us why are you doing all of this?" Luka asks. Marinette didn't say anything at first, but with worried looks from both of them, she knew she had to tell. "I-I couldn't handle it anymore. L-Lila doesn't face me anymore, but she still spreads rumors about me and tries to have her 'friends' bully me. I almost got pushed down the stairs by one of them." She and Chloe know that Bustier and Damocles won't do anything since they still believe in Lila.

"And there's no way out of it since it happens every day." Chloe interrupted, "So you decided to escape it all by leaving Paris?" Marinette nodded. "I know you two are trying to talk me out of it. I'm glad you both still care but I know what I'm doing, and I want to do it.", "Okay, do you know where you're running off to?" Luka asked. "Yes, there is a small secluded town here in France called Mousloon. No akuma attacks happened there and it's mostly peaceful." Marinette showed them information about Mousloon when she looked it up. Mostly reasons on why it's good to move to Mousloon.

"Okay. Well, I need to talk to Chloe privately." Luka said and Chloe was confused but followed him downstairs, shutting the door. Marinette went back to the good things they have in that town. A library, a nice cafe, some shops, etc. People who visited there said it's a really nice town. Some time passed but felt like a long time, they both came back. "Are you both leaving me alone so I can go there? I'm not changing my mind." Marinette said. "We know, we talked and we ended up making a decision. We're going with you whether you like it or not." Chloe said.

"Wait...going with me? No!" Marinette reacted in shock. "What about your parents, Chloe? Your dad will have the whole city looking for you!", Turning to Luka, "What about your mom and Juleka? They'll probably start blaming me!". "Lately, my parents never spent any time with me. They just buy my love for them with lots of gifts." Chole said. "My mom will get worried, yes, but I can't handle being around Juleka anymore. If I did, I'll probably hurt her. Plus I don't want you to go alone. I want to be with you." Holding her hand.

"You both do know that the police will be looking for you too? And if they find you, you probably won't leave Paris again for a long time." Marinette asks and they both nodded. "And that's why it would be best if we use a fake identity. I know how to create one." Chloe said. "You learned it from Sabrina, didn't you?" Chloe probably learned it from her since she's would be the type of person to use one. "Well, yes, but I got to learn more about it on my own. So if they catch us and we show them, they'll believe we're different people!"

\---------------

Marinette couldn't change their minds, they still said they're going with her no matter what. Later on, she accepted it, though she has to change a few things and postpone the date.

She said she has not found a place to stay yet, and that's when Chloe brought up Kagami to help. It might be hard convincing her, but she heard Kagami has a new place and wants to see if it's true and her help too.

Of course it was hard at first. Kagami said the same thing Marinette said about the police looking for them and Chloe's parents too. After explaining their reasons and promising she won't get in trouble, she thought about it again. "Fine, I'll help you, but I'm staying here and I will quit helping all of you if you get caught." They agreed. Kagami mentioned another home in France she stayed in before actually moving here, so they could stay there until they find their own place. Also saying her mother has some access to the other house but she will change it to her having access and her mother won't find out. They talked some more and agreed on things.

Not knowing that a certain green-eyed boy is watching them from a distance.

\---------------

Now, it's the day they disappear to start a new life.

Chloe worked on fake identification and gave them and herself a new name. Marinette is now Juliette Boutroux, Luka is Beau Vandame, and Chloe is Meline Aliker. They also destroyed their phones and leaving them somewhere if they tracked them down. They did it because Chole said her parents bought her a bunch of phones, another way of buying her love, so if they put their fake name on it, they'll be fine. Luka left a note in his room for his mother or sister to find. It was nighttime so nobody's around the streets, parents went to another event, it was all good.

So when they were in the living room discussing plans, a loud knocking sound was heard. It wasn't coming from the door to the living room so it must be coming from the entrance to the bakery. Marinette walked downstairs with Chloe and Luka following behind her. The bakery was dark so she uses her phone flashlight, shining it at the glass door, showing a person with a black sweatshirt with the hood up. Its back was towards the light so they don't know if it's a boy or girl. Unlocking the door and opening it a bit. "Can I help you?" Marinette asks and the person turned around, revealing the green eyes Marinette recognized. Marc.

He wasn't involved in the bullying, so why is he here?

"Marc? What are you doing here?" Marinette asks, Chloe and Luka in the back are confused too. "I know what you're doing, Marinette. I know they're going with you. I know everything." He said in a voice that was different from his usual one. Same but it has no emotions. "What? What are you talking about?" Marinette acted like she's confused but he can see through her. "That you're all running away, going to Mousloon. Also that Kagami is helping out too." He explained what he overheard. "Can you come inside? I don't want any more people overhearing." Marinette opened the door wider, allowing him in and turning her phone flashlight brighter.

"Okay, you got us. Please don't tell anyone at school, you already know what happened to me. Is there anything you want so you won't tell?" Marinette continued until Marc interrupted. "Calm down! I won't tell anyone and no, I don't want anything." She stopped, "Okay, then why are you here?". "Because I want to go with you guys." He answered. What?! The group are all confused now. "What?! Why? You have Nathaniel. You have Alix. You have the art club!" Marinette pointed out. "Not anymore. Nathaniel broke off the partnership and I left the art club after that. I stopped speaking to Alix after she blew up at me when I said Lila's lying." He explained everything and that he knew Lila's a liar.

Apparently, Nathaniel had been acting weird for a few months and just from out of the blue, broke off the partnership, and with Marc constantly asking questions why and was Lila's involved, Nath didn't answer any of it. During the next day, he was informed by Rose that he unexpectedly quit the art club and nobody could get in contact with him after that. Marinette remembered that all the times he was in class, he refused to speak to anyone, even Lila, who after realizing that he's not going to talk to her, left him alone. "If he's not going to talk to me, then why keep contacting him?" Marc said.

More talking later on and making sure he knows what's going to happen and the consequences if they get found. "Okay, you can come with us. Chloe has some extra bags you can use." Marinette said and Chloe added, "And you're lucky I have another phone." Chloe went upstairs with Marc following her. Marinette was about to go too but Luka stopped her. "Are you sure you want to do this?" He asks, "Well we made it this far, so there is no going back. I am sure, we're all in this together aren't we?" Holding his hand, she felt calm around him. "Yeah we are. I just want to be sure you don't regret anything."

Getting to the living room where most of the items and clothes are packed up in Chloe's extra suitcases. She and Marc are sitting on the floor with her creating him a new identity online. "I do have some outfits I planned to give to my ex-classmates, I can give you them." Marinette said when she sees he didn't bring anything with him. "That'll be nice, thank you." He said and she climbed up to her room. After a while, Chloe finished and gave him an option to pick his other name.

Marc said he liked the name Noel and told Chloe she can come up with the last name. She ends up creating Noel Desmarais for him, also setting it up on the phone as well. Luka told Marc to give him his phone and when he did, he went to the kitchen where Marinette said a box of tools were. Getting it, he set the phone down and pulled out a hammer. He ended up smashing the phone, saying it will track them down. Marc was shocked to say anything and Chloe said the new phone won't track them, and gave it to him. Marinette came back down with the extra clothes.

An hour passed and it got really dark. Nobody around the bakery or anywhere on the streets. So it's time.

The train station has cameras so Marinette had some hoodies for them to wear. Everything is packed up and good to go. She turned off everything and locked the bakery and left with them, all wearing their hood up. While crossing a bridge to get there, they ended up throwing Marc's broken phone into the river so they don't have to waste time finding the small pile of broken phones, all they know is that it's in the woods. Getting to the station on time for them to leave to get to another city that's not too far from Mousloon. Showing them the tickets, they got on the train with no problems with their suitcases above them.

While waiting for more people to get on. Marinette, who got the window seat and is sitting next to Luka, looked out the window and sees the Eiffel Tower light up far away. Turning to look at the group, Chloe and Luka on their new phones, and Marc writing something in his book. She turned to the far away tower again, just staring at it until the announcement came on, saying it's ready to leave. Marinette is prepared to leave Paris forever and go on under a new identity with her real friends. But she might return someday.

 _Goodbye Paris._ She thought while staring until she could no longer see it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do research disappearances, and I tried my best with them preventing to be seen and tracked down.  
> (I was rushing a bit with this so I'm sorry if it's different or missed something.)


	3. Arriving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arriving and meeting new people.

It was 11 pm on a Friday when they left. What the phone says, it takes 9 hours on a train to get to the city, so they would arrive at 8 am on a Saturday.

It is currently 6 hours in as the train clock says 5 in the morning.

Everyone on the train is mostly asleep. Chloe is going to have to get used to not having everything handed to her. That is one of the reasons why she wants to leave, to escape being a spoiled brat and learn how to live on her own in the real world. She couldn't sleep due to noises so she looked around in the dimmed section of the train, some people were still awake, everyone else is mostly asleep. She looked back to the group. Marinette is drawing a design in her sketchbook, Marc is curled up on his side, asleep, and Luka is just leaning back in his seat, staring out of the window watching lights go by.

During the first month since her mom came back, Chloe was happy to have a family again. But after that, things started changing. They started distancing themselves from her and each other, claiming they were really busy with their works, but they'll still buy her anything she wants. That's why she has some phones, lots of clothing, anything she asks, they buy it for her. Whenever she asks them to have some time as a family together, they would either decline, or say yes, but cancel it when it gets closer.

She knows her parents will have the entire city looking for her, that Sabrina will act as she misses her, that Lila will spew lies and have everyone's attention to her again. That everyone will act as they never even bullied Marinette and misses them!

Marinette did say that she, her, and Luka will still be heroes, and had taken the box of miraculous with them. Even though they will be 9 hours away, the horse miraculous will instantly teleport them to Paris.

She wonders how long will it take for everyone to notice them missing. That missing person reports and news reports about them. Maybe Monday or Tuesday when they go to school.

They didn't drop out or anything. Just up and left their old life.

She knows they're ready to face whatever comes at them. It will take some time, but she knows they can do it.

\---------------

Marinette ended up falling asleep, she knows she didn't get much sleep due to all the planning.

She doesn't know how long was she sleeping, but she was woken up by Luka saying they arrived.

They got their bags and got off the train in the new city. "As it says, there should be a forest nearby and there will be a trail that will lead us to Mousloon. It's gonna be a long walk so I hope you're all ready." Marinette says as they began their walk. Mousloon is in a secluded area so you have to walk through a forest to get there. There is another way to get there but it's way too long and the forest way is going to take a while but not too long. The map on her phone shows them the way to get there.

They're all still wearing their hoods up. It was getting cold and they still didn't want to be seen. They still haven't figured out what to do if someone in Mousloon identified them, but it's going to take quite an explanation.

\---------------

They found the trail and began their hike. It wasn't that bad but Chloe did complain of bugs for a while. That's just the beginning of a new life for her.

Halfway there, they decided to take a break to drink some water they brought and food Marinette took from her bakery. Kagami sent her the address to the house that was between 5 to 10 minutes away from that small town.

"Aren't your parents discovering that you're missing now?" Marc asks Marinette while eating a croissant. "No, probably not until Sunday evening that they get back from whatever event they're at." She answered. "I was actually at one of them. It wasn't good." Chloe said after taking a bite out of her macaron. "I left early to go back home but I did spot Adrien there, and that liar was with him. Sticking to him like a leech." she said more. "Mom did see him and spoken to him a few times. She said Lila knew a 5-star pastry chef that taught her everything and is willing to help her some time. I'm glad she never did." Marinette said and Chloe laughed at that.

"Isn't Jukela supposed to be back at your home now?" Chloe asked Luka. "No, she's staying at Rose for the weekend. But Kitty Sections probably noticed by now that I wasn't showing up." Luka said. "You didn't break them up?" Marc asks. "They can do whatever with the band. I just quitted without telling them." Marinette started feeling guilty. He loved that band. Luka noticed it and reached out to hold her hand. "It'll be okay. Recently, they have been debating on letting Lila join and didn't notice I left. I wouldn't want to be in the same room with her." He said and they all laughed.

They all knew Lila won, but she can have her fun while it lasts.

They all talked some more, learning more about each other. It was nice and Marinette was glad she's finally getting some peace.

\---------------

They finished their break and started their walk again. Kagami said there will be another path that will take them to the house. It took 7 minutes but they found the other path.

The other path led them to a really nice looking two-story house. The first floor from the outside has stone walls and the second floor has wooden walls. Even a balcony too! Lots of windows and it's surrounded by trees.

"That's Kagami's other house?!" Marc asks in shock. "Her mother was a world champion in fencing. Of course, she owns something like this." Chloe said. "Kagami gave me the keys. Let's look around." Marinette said. They walked up the small stairs on the porch and into their new home.

It's actually a really nice house. A large living room, a kitchen, and a dining room. There are some empty rooms, and a bathroom. Walking upstairs, there are some bedrooms, another bathroom, a balcony to look over the living room, another one that leads to the outside one, and another stairway that leads to the attic. There's also a basement too. There is already furniture but some rooms remained empty. There is also a back porch and a backyard that is empty.

They leave their stuff in their chosen room and left to go see Mousloon. Another walk to go on.

It depends on how fast you walk, you can get to Mousloon in between 5 - 10 minutes, they got there in 6 minutes.

It looks really nice and peaceful to them. Some small shops, a cafe, a small hair salon, just about every place a small town has.

Walking down a small street, about to go past the cafe, a woman came out of there. She seems to be in her mid-20s, has brown hair that was pulled up in a bun, and brown eyes. Wearing a yellow t-shirt, blue jeans, and white flats. Also wearing a white apron. When the unknown woman spotted them, she walked over to them. Now closer, she has freckles. "I have never seen you guys before, are you new here?" She asks in a calm voice. Marinette spoke for them. "Y-Yeah we're new. We moved to start a new life and we heard that this small town is a great place to live.". "Oh, well you moved to the right place! This town is wonderful to start." The woman said. "I'm sorry for not introducing myself. My name is Clarette. I run this cafe." She pointed to the cafe behind her called Early Rise Cafe.

"Why don't you all come in for a bit? I need to finish cleaning up, but then I show you the town, is that alright?" Clarette asks and they're all fine with it. Clarette opened the door allowing them in. It was similar to the bakery but a bit wider. They have some tables and chairs and menus hanged above the counter written on the blackboard in chalk. A guy was behind the counter, a little bit younger than the woman. "New customers?" The male asks. "Actually, they're new residents! They just moved here and I'm going to show them around after cleaning up!" Clarette said and told them they're welcome to hang around and left.

"Just moved here? That's nice, what are your names?" He asks making the group tense up a bit, remembering they have to tell their fake names.

They introduced themselves as Juliette, Beau, Meline, and Noel. "Nice. My name is Archer. I moved here a few years ago so I'm learning the town myself." Archer had curly brown hair darker than Clarette, dark eyes, wearing a light brown sweatshirt, and wearing the same apron. They made small talk and got to know him for a bit. He got kicked out back at home in his hometown and heard about Mousloon from a friend. He's doing alright now.

Clarette came out from the back. "It's nice to see you talking to them. You can run the cafe by yourself for a while right?" She asks and Archer nodded. They all left following Clarette.

They got to see new places and new people. Clarette wanted to show them the small hair salon where her best friend works. It was called Solo Salon and the first thing they see when they came in is an Asian woman sitting at the front desk reading a magazine. She introduced herself as Ruru Akazawa. She moved out of Japan to travel and preferred to stay in France instead of going back. Ruru likes to style her hair a lot which is why she owns a hair salon. Her hair is two different shades of red, bright at the top, dark at the bottom.

Next was the music store and Luka seemed to love it there. They have all different types of music there. A guy named Javier Lebas owns it and loves music just as much as Luka does. It took a while to leave because he wants to know more instead. Marinette was happy for him. Javier had a band that was almost successful but due to an apparent problem with one of the bandmates, they had to break up. He decided to run a music shop as it was easier.

After seeing more places and meeting new people, Clarette looked at her phone. "I have to go back to the cafe now. I will show you more places tomorrow if that's okay with all of you.", "That's fine, we all had a good time here." Marinette smiled. "That's great. I can tell you all quickly that a mile away from here is a village where most of us live and a river nearby there. I will show you all of it tomorrow." She started walking back to the cafe. "I can give you all some food since you just moved there. Think of it as a welcome gift." Clarette is a really nice woman. She said she was born here but had to move out to attend school. She moved back after finishing college early.

\---------------

They all had a good time touring around Mousloon. Even staying for a bit after it ended. They all see why Marinette wanted to run away there.

They checked their phones to see no akuma attacks going on. It's not extremely rare for it to not happen but they felt safe here. Marinette was having thoughts about returning to visit Paris, but after the tour here, she might not ever want to leave Mousloon. She doesn't regret running away. She does miss her mom and dad, but it's best for her if she wants her and her friends to have a safe life.

It's getting dark and they were able to find the path back to the house, it's going to take a while to get used to it.

They all unpacked in their rooms and settled down. Marinette was finishing a design when she heard someone coming into her room. She looked up to see Luka.

"You doing okay?" He sat down next to her. "I'm doing great! I told you moving to Mousloon was good!" She said. "I see now. You think we can live there for the rest of our life?" He asks. "Well, I'm not sure. We do have to move out before Kagami moves in here. We'll just see how we're doing here." She says. "Although I am still worried about the police finding you guys.". "They won't find us. We left everything behind in Paris. We used our fake names at the station. Even if they searched us for years. They won't find us."

His words calmed her down. Just being with him calms her down. She felt guilty for always choosing Adrien over him, but he always forgave her. Maybe Luka is the love of her life? Well, as they all say, we'll see how life goes and where it takes us.

Before leaving her room, he leaned over to kiss her forehead. Marinette is flustered for a bit and then blushed.

We will always see where life take us, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The house: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/95/6a/ac/956aacab998f929eeb290eb421eb471a.jpg


	4. Reactions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The class reactions to the news reports of their disappearance.

Lila got up early to practice her lies as usual. While searching for a famous person to lie about, she started getting a bad feeling. Lila usually ignores them but this time, it was not like the others she had. It was weird but she ignored it again. It's probably from all the non-alcoholic drinks she had at the event during the weekend.

She left her home, taking a water bottle with her. She knows that today is going to be like any other day.

But she still had that feeling that something is definitely wrong.

\---------------

Lila just finished telling another story to her classmates. They all believed it but Alix just kept looking around for something.

"Is something wrong Alix?" Lila asks, "Well, Marc and I got into an argument last week and I want to apologize but I can't find him anywhere." Alix said. "Isn't he usually at the art club?" Alya asks. "Yeah, but Juleka and I were there earlier and we haven't seen him." Rose said. "Is he still sulking over that situation?" Kim asks and Juleka shrugged. "I did see Nathaniel but he still wouldn't talk to me." She added. They started talking about that and Lila couldn't get the attention back to her so she just ignored it and went on her phone until the bell rang for class.

Arriving to class and sitting at their assigned seats, they all noticed that Marinette and Chloe weren't here. "Marinette probably overslept as usual." Alya groaned. "I did see Chloe at that event so she might be sleeping in." Lila said but she didn't see Chloe since she was too busy attached to Adrien. She doesn't care if she's there or not.

They talked more until Miss Bustier walked in. They noticed that she looked down.

"Miss Bustier! Is everything okay?" Lila asks.

"Well, uhhh..." She paused, looking hesitant. This wasn't her behavior and the class started acting suspicious and worried. "Something happened during the weekend. We had a short meeting and the principal wants every teacher here to show this." Bustier said as she was swiping through her tablet until she found the video she has to show. She swiped it to the big screen and pressed play. It was a news report.

" _It was during Saturday night that the police had gotten a report of a 16-year-old boy missing. Recently, police had gotten three more missing person reports during that time, they believe that the cases may be connected._ " They showed 4 photographs of people the class recognized. " _On Saturday night. 16-year-old Marc Anciel was reported missing by his mother. The next day, 18-year-old Luka Couffaine was reported missing after failing to come home. During the early morning today, two missing person reports came in. 16-year-old Chloe Bourgeois, and 16-year-old Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Polices are currently investigating and the only clue they have is a note that was left in Luka's room._ " They showed the note that was written:

**Dear mom,**

**I'll be okay, but please don't look for me.**

**I love you.**

**\- Luka**

" _Police could not track them down and security footage is currently being reviewed. This investigation is ongoing and we will update you with new information._ "

The video stopped.

The class was quiet for a few seconds, then loud talking and yelling endured.

"Why would she do that?!", "Why is Chloe gone too?!", "Is this because of Lila?!", etc.

"Class, please calm down!" Bustier raised her voice to get the class to stop. "The police wants us to talk to you to see if you all have noticed them acting differently before they disappeared.". "I got into an argument with Marc last week and I haven't heard from him since." Alix said. "Do you know what the argument is about?" Bustier asks. "Something about Lila being a liar. I yelled at him saying she's not and I walked away, that's the last time I've seen him." Alix answered.

After mentioning Marc, everyone turned to Nathaniel who had a shocked expression on his face. "Do you remember your conversations with Marc?" Bustier asks. All of a sudden, Nathaniel got up and walked down the stairs, and left the classroom not speaking or looking at anybody. Alix left to go after him. "I got into an argument too with Luka and I left to stay at Rose for the weekend." Juleka said, trying to get used to the fact her brother is missing. "I don't remember much of it but I do remember it had something to do with Marinette." She said.

"You think Marinette had something to do with your brother? I'm so sorry Juleka! I should've just kept my drama with her away from everybody!" Lila said, acting like she was about to cry. Everyone began consoling her, saying it's not her fault. Bustier wasn't getting everyone attention so she dropped a heavy book to the ground, creating a loud sound. "The case just started and we're not going to accuse people. Just try to relax and have the police figure it out. Adrien? Have you heard anything from Chloe before the weekend?" Bustier said and asked him. "No, I haven't heard anything from her. She stopped talking to me a few weeks ago but I think that was for something else." He answered.

Right before Bustier asks about Marinette, Alix came back to the room, but no Nathaniel. "Did you talk to him?" She asks. "He yelled at me and locked himself in the boy's bathroom." Alix says, recovering from the fact he yelled at her. "What was he yelling about?" Alya asks, "He was saying it's all our faults they disappeared." Alix answered. Everyone was confused about Nathaniel's behavior recently, but now after hearing he yelled at a close friend, they think something is wrong with him.

"I will have someone go check on him. Have any of you heard from Marinette before that weekend?" Bustier said. "I tried texting her but she wasn't replying to any of them." Lila lied. She doesn't care about her, just trying to act like an innocent friend. Everyone said they haven't heard from her. They think that just because they did some harmless things to her, Marinette doesn't have to disappear. They were just trying to teach her a lesson!

It wasn't that bad!

Right?

\---------------

Alya stopped by the bakery and sees a crying Sabine. She kept saying it's her fault and she should've just stayed home that weekend, Tom looked like he was about to break down again. Alya tried to interview them but couldn't with Sabine crying and Tom leaving the room constantly. She said maybe she'll be back another time. Leaving, Alya starting thinking. Marinette has a huge crush on Adrien and was jealous that Lila was with him. And those time Marinette accused Lila of lying and bullying her.

_I know you're jealous, but you didn't have to go that far to get his attention._

Alya tried to interview Chloe's parents, but Audrey told her to get out and not to talk to her again.

Audrey is going through the fact that her only daughter disappeared, she could be having a tough time. André is too busy working with the police to bring Chloe back home. She also tried talking to the hotel workers but they didn't see much of Chloe and said she was normal when they see her.

She knows that Luka hasn't been showing up to Kitty Section but she thought he was just too busy. After Juleka said the last time she saw him was when she and him were fighting, Alya was sure that Marinette convinced Luka to go with her. Just to get a reaction out of Adrien. She interviewed Anarka and she said Luka didn't say a bad thing about Marinette. She only heard a bit of that argument but she heard that Luka was defending Marinette. He told her he was going to stay with a friend, that was the last time she heard from him and called the police after calling his friend and that friend saying Luka never talked to him about staying over.

Alya talked to Marc's mother and she only said she had been at work a lot and Marc can take care of himself. She called in a missing person report when she realized he wasn't at home when he was supposed to be. She texted Nathaniel only to get no response from him.

After talking to them. She is now convinced that Marinette has something to do with it, she believes that she is trying to get Adrien's attention like they do in romance movies. None of the interviews she did were helping her.

Now that she thinks about it, maybe Adrien should be better off with Lila. Marinette is just very toxic to be around now. If Marinette is still alive somewhere, she should be seeing how Adrien and Lila are getting closer on TV and if she comes back, she couldn't wait to see her reaction when Adrien and Lila are dating.

_Whatever you're doing Marinette, it's not going to work. I bet you won't even last a few days._

\---------------

It's been a week and they still haven't been found.

The updates from the police are that they formed a search party and spread all over Paris to look for them. The only things they found is a small pile of broken phones in the woods and one phone in the river. They took it in for evidence after someone claiming those phones belonged to the missing peoples. Even though they took it in, they couldn't get anything out of it as the phones were severely damaged but believed that was why they couldn't track them down.

They reviewed all security footage that was from the night they disappeared, but some cameras don't have night vision as it was way too dark, and for some that do, didn't capture anything that was useful. They went through the footage from the train station but it was too crowded to identify them so they uploaded the footage to see if anyone can identify anything. Half were saying yes while the other half were saying no. It was like a war going on online.

After all of that, the mayor increases the search, and saying those who found them will be rewarded a million dollars. They're also trying to get the news to spread all over France.

There are now some theories on what happened to them. The top theory is believing that Hawkmoth kidnapped them. The evidence found suggested that but not enough to prove it.

\------------

Adrien was at home trying to take it all in.

His close friends are missing!

Some of his classmates are accusing Marinette of doing it to get his attention, while others were saying it was the Hawkmoth theory.

Lila kept saying she believes it was her fault that caused them to disappear, but Adrien knows she's lying to get the attention away from Marinette.

It was all too much to take in and multiple thoughts were running around in his head.

He could transform into Chat Noir to find them, but they could be anywhere in France and he only has a limited time before he transforms back.

Adrien wanted to participate in the search parties but his father told him not to and just stick with modeling with Lila.

As much as he wanted to, he has to follow the rules.

He just hoped they'll be found one day.

**Author's Note:**

> Miraculous Ladybug belongs to Thomas Astruc.


End file.
